Vista Home Premium 64 bit freezing constantly

P

paco16

Limp Gawd
Joined
Dec 20, 2007
Messages
498
Hey there... Just built a new system last month and have had relatively few issues thus-far. However in the last week or so my system has randomly locked up. Mouse doesn't work, no error, no BSOD. I have to hard reboot my machine to make it come back up. This typically happens fastest when I'm trying to play COD:W@W(usually 5 minutes or so). It will happen if the machine is at the desktop, or with Firefox... doesn't matter. It's completely random for the most part. Usually it takes place within the first 20 minutes of a boot-up. Or after the machine has been idling and someone goes to use it. Ctrl, Alt, Del does not work and I have to reboot.
I looked in the event logs and it just listed the error: "windows was restarted due to an unexpected error". Also getting : "Performance power management features on processor 0 are disabled due to a firmware problem. Check with the computer manufacturer for updated firmware. " I receive this error for all 8 logical cores. I have not yet turned off Hyper-threading.
System Specs:
EVGA x58 SLI board w/most recent BIOS (3/30)
Intel i7 920(@ stock)
Enermax Infiniti 720 PSU
3 Gig- Triple channel OCZ 1333 DDR3(7-7-7-20-1T)
2xPNY 8800gt's XLR8's in SLI (@ stock)
3 Samsung Spinpoint 750GB 32mb cache SA TAII drives
X-Fi Fatal1ty Champion Series
Samsung 203H DVD/CD RW(SATAII Model)
Xclio a380 case

I've updated my sound card drivers, video card drivers (185 beta from 182 latest), chipset, onboard sound and sata controller. I've disabled SLI and enabled. Even ran in safe mode with no success. I enabled "speedstep" as suggested on an EVGA forum... nothing.
Edit: I've also disabled hibernation and power save for the most part. (I've tried both S1&S3 and S1in the BIOS)
I have also removed all unnecessary hardware and still get the same results. I have not yet tried re-installing XP as I'm waiting to get some extra cash for a SSD before I do this installation.

I haven't tried calling EVGA just yet, but there's a ton of people having freezing issues with this version of Vista+SLI. A google search gave me some informative information including a Microsoft script that gets rid of the error in the event logs, but does not fix the issue.

I'm frustrated and completely confused. I've got to say EVGA's support has been awesome, but I've had waaay too many issues for a new build. (Probably wonderful Vista...)
Any thoughts or suggestions? Anyone had this issue? People with similar hardware and OS versions are encouraged to share their stories...

This just started happening in the last week and I've been trouble-shooting it all weekend.
 
I would try updating the bios on the motherboard.

Also check temps, it sounds like it could be overheating.
 
paco16 said:
System Specs:
EVGA x58 SLI board w/most recent BIOS (3/30)
Intel i7 920(@ stock)
Enermax Infiniti 720 PSU
3 Gig- Triple channel OCZ 1333 DDR3(7-7-7-20-1T)
2xPNY 8800gt's XLR8's in SLI (@ stock)
3 Samsung Spinpoint 750GB 32mb cache SA TAII drives
X-Fi Fatal1ty Champion Series
Samsung 203H DVD/CD RW(SATAII Model)
Xclio a380 case

I've updated my sound card drivers, video card drivers (185 beta from 182 latest), chipset, onboard sound and sata controller. I've disabled SLI and enabled. Even ran in safe mode with no success. I enabled "speedstep" as suggested on an EVGA forum... nothing.
Edit: I've also disabled hibernation and power save for the most part. (I've tried both S1&S3 and S1in the BIOS)
I have also removed all unnecessary hardware and still get the same results. I have not yet tried re-installing XP as I'm waiting to get some extra cash for a SSD before I do this installation.

I haven't tried calling EVGA just yet, but there's a ton of people having freezing issues with this version of Vista+SLI. A google search gave me some informative information including a Microsoft script that gets rid of the error in the event logs, but does not fix the issue.
Click to expand...

Temps are fine. 35-40 on mobo and ram. 50-60 on CPU (i hear this is normal on the i7's) It is a stock cooler however. I haven't overclocked... everything is at stock and if you look at my case, you'll see it has more than sufficient cooling (i.e. 2x250mm fans) Case wiring is also clean.
 
paco16 said:
Temps are fine. 35-40 on mobo and ram. 50-60 on CPU (i hear this is normal on the i7's) It is a stock cooler however. I haven't overclocked... everything is at stock and if you look at my case, you'll see it has more than sufficient cooling (i.e. 2x250mm fans) Case wiring is also clean.
Click to expand...

What are idle temps and what are they under load? What about GPU temps, idle and load?

I assume you've run memtest to test the ram?

On the PSU, do you know how many amps it's putting out per 12v rail and how much the video cards require? Most people just look at wattage but don't look at the amps. Very important.
 
Those temps admittedly were at idle within the BIOS... I haven't installed any monitoring software yet. I'll try and get those in the next couple days.
I've run Memtest and the vista memory diagnostics... both came back with no errors. The PSU provided 30 amps per 12v rail and there's 3. The 8800gt's require 28amps per rails so it's safe to say we're fine here. (been though this in another post)

Typically if it's an overheating issue, wouldn't I see a system slowdown and then a reboot? I've typically gotten the best heatsink/fan and done mild overclocking if at all. This is the first time I've stayed with a stock cooler for more than the first week or so.
 
paco16 said:
Those temps admittedly were at idle within the BIOS... I haven't installed any monitoring software yet. I'll try and get those in the next couple days.
I've run Memtest and the vista memory diagnostics... both came back with no errors. The PSU provided 30 amps per 12v rail and there's 3. The 8800gt's require 28amps per rails so it's safe to say we're fine here. (been though this in another post)

Typically if it's an overheating issue, wouldn't I see a system slowdown and then a reboot? I've typically gotten the best heatsink/fan and done mild overclocking if at all. This is the first time I've stayed with a stock cooler for more than the first week or so.
Click to expand...

With overheating in my experience it goes straight to lockup/reboot. If your GPU ram is overheating you'll get artifacting, if the GPU core itself is overheating you go straight to lock up.
I don't own a core i7 but those temps at idle seem quite high. But again, I don't know what is normal for these chips.
I do have several C2D chips and found the stock fan/heatsink to work great with temps half of what you are getting on that i7.
 
I'm not getting a single artifact and/or tear at all. I'm probably going to order a $70 cooler for this today and just get it over with. I wanted to buy more ram, another HDD(preferably SSD) and the cooler at one shot; but I'm sure it will only help my cause by buying an after-market.
 
paco16 said:
I'm not getting a single artifact and/or tear at all. I'm probably going to order a $70 cooler for this today and just get it over with. I wanted to buy more ram, another HDD(preferably SSD) and the cooler at one shot; but I'm sure it will only help my cause by buying an after-market.
Click to expand...

You don't have to get artifacts at all to be overheating. Like I said, that only applies to GPU ram not the GPU core. What are your video card temps? You haven't said.

You don't need to spend $70 on a cooler. that's alittle ridiculous, especially when we don't know if that's the issue or not. And cheaper ones do the job just as well.
If those temps are high it's most likely because the heatsink/fan is not mounted correctly. They can be a pain and while it looks to be mounted correctly it may not be. On my last build I broke the stock one. I could never get a good solid connection. Even though it was locked in place. One of the pins was damaged and just wouldn't hold it on as tight as it needed to be.

But I don't know if those temps are high for that CPU. Like I said, I don't own one. But they seem high. The stock heatsink is plenty for cooling the CPU at stock speeds in a well ventilated case.

An article on temps on the Core i7: http://www.pugetsystems.com/blog/2009/02/26/intel-core-i7-temperatures/
 
Last edited:
The ZALMAN CNPS9900LED is $59.99 on the egg so I'm going with that one. I know you don't have to get artifacts to be overheating... I was just addressing the first part of your comment "If your GPU ram is overheating you'll get artifacting, if the GPU core itself is overheating you go straight to lock up. ". I don't know the temp of the GPU. I'll have to wait until I get home to see.
Your note about the CPU fan being improperly mounted is interesting... My daughter decided it'd be fun to play under my desk this weekend and knocked the machine over. I stood it back up and went about my business(completely forgot until just now)... I'll remount that tonight and update everyone with my results.
 
I reseated the CPU heatsink fan (multiple times in fact)... Gotta love this locking mechanism. Any-who, the system doesn't boot anymore. It's the same reboot cycle it was doing while I was trying to get triple channel working correctly. After 2 hours of messing around I gave up... I ordered the Zalman 9900 last night so hopefully that will get rid of the temperature issues I've been having. Also got a new Samsung Spinpoint 1TB HDD to install XP on...
 
"Our recommendation is to keep Intel Core i7 CPUs under 80C. That gives you a healthy margin in case you’re running a heavy load on your CPU on a particularly hot summer day. Due to the manufacturing process of Intel Core i7, and the improved power management features, we’re comfortable at up to 80C, even though this would be considered a very hot temperature with an Intel Core 2 Quad CPU."

Interesting article. Thanks for the link. This gives me a better idea of what to expect from the i7's as far as temp.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top